Car-seal.



H. H. LIEMKE. CAB SEAL.

[Application flied Tan. 18, 1902.

No. 75322. Patehtold 000'. I6, I902.

(llo llndal.)

T I Hg. 1

E I 7 I O. S. r W FAST FREIGHT W cAPAcrTY 30.000 LBS.

1X)" 14000 12 woe who; I .85 fl zwzg; v v 5 43%, I v (14 in m: scams PETERS co. PHOTO-LUNG wnsumcron n c UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HERMAN H. LIEMKE, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO LOUIS A. ALLARD, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI.

CAR-SEAL.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N 0. 715,822, dated December 16, 1902.

Application filed January 18, 1902. Serial No. 90,355. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HERMAN H. LIEMKE, a citizen of the United States, residing at St. Louis, State of Missouri, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Car- Seals, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part hereof.

IO My invention has relation to improvements in car-seals; and it consists in the novel construction of seal more fully set forth in the specification and pointed out in the claims.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation of a freight-car having my invention applied thereto. Fig. 2 is a cross-section on line 2 2 of Fig. 3, taken through the seal proper. Fig. 3 is a face view of the seal with wall broken away to show the interior construction and showing the wire locked within the same. Fig. 4 is a cross-section on line 4 4 of Fig. 3. Fig. 5 is a plan of the complete seal. Fig. 6 is a view similar to Fig. 3, showing manner of inserting the wire; and Fig. 7 is an edge view of the disk.

The object of my invention is to construct a car-seal which can be locked with a minimum amount of manipulation, one which can be cheaply constructed, one which shall be effective, and one possessing further and other advantages better apparent from a detailed description of the invention, which is as follows:

Referring to the drawings, 1 represents a 3 5 seal or disk constructed of any suitable material-such as metal, clay, composition, and the likesaid seal being preferably circular, though not necessarily so. Formed in the body thereof and disposed in a plane parallel to thefaces of the disk are preferably parallel passages 2 2, each terminating near the center of the disk in a chamber 3, having an inclined lateral wall 4 and a basal wall or inclined shoulder 5. The outer end of each passage terminatesin a lateral offset or pocket 6 for a purpose presently to appear. Into each of thepassages 2 is passed the opposite end of the looking-wire 7, each end terminating in a resilient prong 8, which during the insertion into and passage through the passage 2 becomes compressed, Fig. 6, and which the moment it passes the edge of the shoulder 5 opens outwardly within the chamber 3, spanning the shoulder 5, as seen in Fig. 3. The wire thus becomes locked and cannot be withdrawn from the disk without first breaking the latter. The wire has formed thereon at a point in proximity to the terminal prong 8 a loop or arm 9, which by the time the prong has passed fully into the chamber 3 enters the pocket 6, and since the height of the pocket is the same as the height of the passage 2, this height being just sufficient to allow for the free passage of the wire into the seal, it follows that the loop 9, engaging, as it does, the upper and lower walls of the pocket, serves to prevent the turning of the wire within the passage after its final insertion into the sea]. It is apparent, of course, that without the presence of the loop 9 it might be possible for unauthorized persons to turn the wire within the passage 2 through an are sufficient to bring the prong 8 to a point where it would clear the edge of the shoulder 5-that is to say, against the wall of the chamber forming the continuation of that wall of the passage 2 which is opposite the shoulderand thus permit the withdrawal of the wire without the necessity of first breaking the seal. (See dotted position, Fig. 6.) In practice the loop 9 is preferably dipped in solder, so that the sides of the same will be firmly cemented together.

I do not, of course, wish to be limited to the precise details here shown, as these may be departed from, in a measure, without affect- 8 5 ing either the nature or spirit of my invention. For example, the passages 2 2 need not necessarily be parallel, nor the chamber 3 as sume the form here presented. So may the seal be polygonal instead of circular.

Having: described my invention, what I claim is' 1. A car-seal comprising a seal or disk, passages formed therein and extending in the same direction into the body of the disk, a 5 chamber located in the body of the seal having aninclined lateral wall and an inclined basal shoulder at the inner end of each passage, an offset or pocket disposed along the margin of the disk at the outer end of each 10o passage, a wire having terminal prongs adapt ed to be passed into the chambers and engage the shoulders thereof,and a loop or arm formed on each end of the wire adapted to be received by the pocket, substantially as set forth.

2. A car-seal comprising a seal or disk, parallel passages disposed in a plane parallel to the faces of the disk and extending in the same direction into the body of the disk, a terminal chamber located in the body of the seal at the inner end of each passage, a wire having a resilient prong at each end adapted to be passed into the chamber, means for looking the prong Within the chamber, an arm or loop formed in the wire in proximity to the 

